The present invention relates to a vehicle sunroof structure, and more particularly to a structure to receive hinge components attached to a movable panel arranged in a roof aperture.
An automobile with a sunroof structure is shown in FIG. 1 wherein a roof 1 is formed with a roof aperture 2, having a movable panel 3 arranged therein. The front edge 3f of the movable panel 3 is attached to the front edge of the roof aperture 2 through two detachable hinge components and the rear edge 3r of the panel is attached to a rear edge of the roof aperture through a detachable deploying mechanism.
A conventional structure for receiving a hinge component of the movable panel is shown in FIG. 2 and includes a reinforcement 6, with a water collecting channel 5, attached to the front edge of the roof aperture. The vertical wall 6w of the reinforcement 6 is formed with two slots 8 at the corresponding locations to hinge tongues 7 attached to the front edge 3f of the movable panel 3. Mounted to the vertical wall 6w at each slot 8 is a hinge housing 10 formed with a circular arcuate passage 9 for detachably receiving the hinge tongue 7.
The problem encountered with such a hinge component receiving structure is that water enters through the space between the roof aperture defining edge and the panel edge, seeps around and through the hinge connection and collects in the water collecting channel 5. From there it seeps into the space defined by the joining plate S between the reinforcement 6 and the hinge housing 10, causing the seal therebetween to deteriorate. When this happens, water seeps into the passenger compartment, thus causing permanent damage to the vehicle interior.